In The News

January 27, 2020
Case managers for the House of Representatives and the US president’s legal team present evidence on whether or not Donald Trump abused power and obstructed a congressional investigation into blocking military aid for Ukraine in exchange for an announcement into an investigation of a political rival. Trump blocked his staff from testifying, but multiple witnesses report such an exchange was his...
John B. Taylor January 25, 2020
The United States is weakening its future capability with unsustainable federal spending. The US budget deficit exceeded $1 trillion for the most recent fiscal yea, and the Congressional Budget Office anticipates the federal debt as a share of GDP increasing to at least 144 percent by 2049, and possibly higher. “The large deficit will crowd out important federal programs, including needed...
Karen Weintraub January 25, 2020
Health officials and the public have long assumed that normal body temperature was a narrow range around 37 degrees Celsius, or 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. In 1851, a German doctor tested 15,000 patients and determined the average. New studies reviewed historical data and suggest that temperatures declined, putting the average at 97.5 degrees Fahrenheit, or 36.3 degrees Celsius. Researchers suggest...
Tim Harford January 20, 2020
There is a long history of companies embracing and spurring social progress, intentionally or not. Tim Harford recounts the history of the sewing machine. A workshop owner rented out space to would-be inventors in 1850 and asked Isaac Merritt Singer, a reported womanizer with three families who did not know about one another, for assistance with a failed sewing machine. Singer spotted problems...
Bill Tomson January 18, 2020
Members of the World Trade Organization, 25 years old, express concerns about processes. The WTO can no longer settle disputes of 164 members after the Trump administration blocked appointments of appellate judges to the body that decides cases. The body has one of three minimum judges; dozens of cases are now on hold. “The U.S. ag sector is keen to see suits filed that would challenge the...
Jonathan Bernstein January 17, 2020
So much of politics depends on appearances and voter perceptions rather than evidence. Proceedings resume January 21, and surprises emerged beforehand. Ukraine accused Russia of hacking into Burisma, a firm targeted by Trump associates for wooing the son of a former US vice president for board service. Lev Parnas, accused of campaign irregularities, turned over emails, photographs and other...
Harold Hongju Koh January 14, 2020
US analysts debate the legality of the US military using a drone to hit a convoy carrying Qasem Soleimani and other officials in Iraq. Most indications suggest the strike was illegal, explains Harold Hongju Koh for Foreign Policy. “U.S. officials had no business putting this illegal option on President Donald Trump’s desk, even as an ‘extreme option’ they expected the president would reject,”...